Metallic railway-tie.



PATENTED MAR. 8l, 1903 S. WOOD. METALLIC RAILWAY TIE. APPLIoATIoN FILEDJULY 26, 1902.

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7 l ...nr/MTA. f l llllll Y fv V77 @da/wa UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL S. VOOD, OF ELGIN, ILLINOIS.

M ETALLIC RAILWAY-TIE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 723,965, dated March31, 1903.

Application tiled July 26, 1902.

iro LZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL S. Woon, a citizen of the United States,residing at Elgin, inthe county of Kane and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Metallic Railway-Ties,of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in metallic railway-ties.

The object of my invention is to provide a tie which will positivelyprevent the rails from spreading and one in which the rail is readilyinserted therein and positiveiy locked and cannot be removed without thebreaking of some part thereof.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a perspective of one of myrail-ties. Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view showing the railslocked therein. Fig. 3 is an enlarged side view of the rail-securingwedge. Fig. 4 is an enlarged view of the locking-key. Fig. 5 is anenlarged side view, partly broke away, showing the rail in position.Fig. Gis a transverse horizontal sectional View of the member D, withthe rail in place.

Referring now to the drawings, A represents the main body of myimprovedmetallic tie, which, as clearly shown, is made of two Vmembers andsecured together by the transverse bar B, which prevents them from beingforced apart, and thus it is almost impossible for the rails to spread.The said main body is preferably formed with a iat base A', which isprovided with a downwardly-extending lug a. The flat base A is firmlyembedded in the ballast or road-bed, the dow-.- Wardly-extending lug aserving to prevent lateral movement. The said base is provided with theupwardly-rounded stud C, which is provided at its upper end with theenlarged member D, which is provided with the fiat rail-supportingsurface D'. The member D is provided with an inwardly extending flanged, which is adapted to engage the outer liange of the base of theordinary rail. The inner edge of said rail is provided with thetransverse tapering rounded opening cl', the lower edge of which extendsconsiderably below the flat rail-supporting surface D and is adapted toreceive a corresponding-shaped Wedge E, which I will now proceed todescribe. The said Wedge is round and slightly taper- Serial No.117,181. (No modeL.

ing toward the end E' to prevent it from being driven too fai" in saidopening, and thus preventingit from being removed only in one direction.One side of said wedge is provided with the longitudinal rib e, which isadapted to receive the ledge d, formed from the opening d', and thusforming a Hush joint. The opposite side of the wedge is also providedwith a longitudinal rib c, which is adapted to engage the inner flangeof the base of the rail, and thus when the wedge is driven home "therail is firmly clamped in place.

To prevent the wedge from coming out from the opposite direction,Iprovide theinner side of the wedge adjacent the tapered e'nd with theL-shaped recess or groove F, and adapted to fit within said recess Iprovide an L-shaped locking-key G, which has its end g slightly longerthan the groove. Thus said end g projects beyond the wedge.

The operation of my device is as follows: The rail is tirst placed uponthe flat rail-supporting surface and the key is placed within the groovecarried by the wedge. The wedges are then driven home, thus firmlyclamping the rail in position and holding the same. The end of thelocking-key after the wedge is driven home extends beyond the edge ofthe rail-supporting member and is then turned over thereagainst, andthus the wedge is prevented from having a backward movement and at thesame time the taper of the wedge preventing it from having a forwardmovement.

To remove the Wedge, it is necessar f to cut the turned-over end of thelocking-key oil with a cold-chisel or straighten it with a special tool,as may be desired.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Pat:- ent, is-

l. A railroad-tie, comprisinga rail-supporting member, a wedge adaptedto hold the rail thereon and having an L-shaped recess and an L-shapedkey carried by said recess, and adapted to lock the wedge againstmovement substantially as described.

2. A railroad-tie, comprising a rail-su p porting member, a transversetapering opening therein, a wedge adapted to enter the opening and clampthe rail thereon and having an L-shaped recess adjacent the tapered endof said wedge, and an L-shaped locking-key adapted to enter the saidrecess and to be turned over against the tie after the wedge is drivenhome, substantially as described.

3. A railroad-tie comprising a rail-supporting member, a transverserounded tanerirg opening therein, a wedge adapted to yenter ihe openingand clamp the rail thereon, and having an L-shaped recess extending tothe taperedend, of said wedge, and an L-shaped lockingkey adapted toenter the said recess and extending beyond the wedge, the end of saidkey adapted to be turned over against the tie after the wedge is drivenhome, substantially as described.

4. A railroad-tie comprising a rai1support ing member having atransverse tapering

